Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Rebelling Against the Swissness

Nancy Holten, 42, from the Canton of Aargau is a vegan and an animal rights activist.

She has been living in Switzerland since she was 8 years old. She is fluent in Swiss German and her children are Swiss. But Nancy’s application for Swiss citizenship has been rejected more than once.

Her sin: annoying her fellow villagers with her activism. Things like looking out for the wellbeing of animals. Cows wearing heavy cow bells; piglets racing and hunting; annoying church bells. Her outspoken comments in the media have made her “unwanted in the community”, and consequently, the fellow villagers are ‘rejecting’ her naturalization.

A spokesman for the local Government puts it nicely: “…Mrs Holten is rebelling against traditional Swiss values within the village…”.